March 2017 Newsletter

Pine Straw and Mulch are on saleonly during the month of March!
Order now for 10% off your pine straw or mulch. The mulch and straw will be put out in March and April.

Crape Myrtle Pruning

Crape Myrtles have all been trimmed back. This is to remind everyone on our Crape Myrtle Pruning practices and why we do them selectively:

I assume that everyone that lives here knows that we have an Agricultural Extension office in Carthage. The head of the AG Extension is Taylor Williams. Every year Taylor teaches a class at Sandhills Community College on the Principles of Pruning. He talked about why it is not beneficial to a crape myrtle to prune it back but more detrimental to its health and shape. NC State teaches that about the 3D’s, which stands for dead, diseased and damaged, we call this “Selective Pruning”. While we adhere to what NC State teaches and follow the selective pruning practices, we still follow what our customer’s wishes are. We have finished crape myrtle pruning.

Pre-Emergent vs- Post Emergent:

I have gotten so many phone calls about this that I thought I would enlighten some of you on the difference:

Pre-emergent prevent the germination of seeds by inhibiting a key enzyme. In this area it is used to prevent crabgrassfrom appearing in summer lawns. Pre-emergent are applied to lawns in the spring and fall to prevent the germination of weed seeds. They will not affect any established plant. In the spring, they should be applied when air temperatures reach 65-70°F for four consecutive days. In the fall, they should be applied when nighttime lows reach 55-60°F for four consecutive nights. “Weed and feed” products which contain both pre-emergent and fertilizer in a single product should not be used on southern lawns or warm-season grasses. If applied when a pre-emergent is needed, the fertilizer may burn or stress the lawn. If applied after the lawn “green-up”, weed seeds will have already germinated and the herbicide will be ineffective.

We applied Pre-emergent to the lawns in late February. Some are being done in early March. If you did not order the pre-emergent it is too late to get it now you will have to get the fall pre-emergent which is applied in September.

Post-emergent kills what is currently growing there. This is done any time of the year however it is best applied when temperatures are above 75 degrees. It is also best applied when rain is not in the forecast. If you have weeds in your turf and have not had your post emergent applied yet, it will be done in March and April.

Annuals:

It is time to order your spring annuals: This year we will be planting the following plants:

Vinca:(a) Titan Summer Breeze Mix Vinca- this is a Full Sun Vinca that gets 14-16” tall (b) Mediterranean Deep Rose- This is a full sun or part shade vinca that grows to 6” tall.

Begonias: Ambassador Mix Green Leaf – this is a mix of red, white and pink that grows to 6-12” This plant does well in sun or shade.

Begonias and Vinca are sold in flats of 1801 meaning that there are 18 plants in each flat. These plants are larger than the ones that are sold in the traditional 3601’s from the big box stores.They are $21.00 delivered or $45.00 delivered and installed with amendment and fertilizer.

Please call the office or emailDana if you would like to order flowers and or have them delivered to your house for you to plant them.

Irrigation:

With this warm weather that we have had we need to start Spring Irrigation start ups. If you want us to start your system please let me know. There is a $100.00 minimum fee for the startup. Any repairs and parts are billed separately. Startup is just that we start the system and adjust the times. Please call the office or emailDana if you want us to do this.